


end of the summer

by astralnoon



Category: The Creatures | Cow Chop RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Confessions, Denial of Feelings, Feelings Realization, M/M, Mutual Pining, Reunions, the creatures? in THIS economy??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:20:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29625561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astralnoon/pseuds/astralnoon
Summary: James and Aleks were once the best of friends, but James suddenly began to distance himself. And then one day he was quietly gone.What happens when James suddenly reaches out to Aleks in the future?
Relationships: Aleksandr Vitalyevich Marchant/James Richard Wilson
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. it’s the end of the summer

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this story and it’s chapters comes from the song “End of the Summer” by Theory of a Deadman!

_“So you’re really moving?”_

The four simple words on his phone screen cause a pit to form in the bottom of Aleks’ stomach. Countless months had passed since he and James had so much as acknowledged the others existence, but James had somehow caught wind of his plans; Aleks knows that none of their friends- or rather _his_ friends, since James ceased contact with the entirety of their old group- would have told him, meaning James must still follow Aleks on social media. He thinks back to the Facebook post that he had made a little over a month ago announcing his plan to leave Boston for the west coast, inviting friends to one last outing together as a goodbye; the gathering had occurred at the group’s old hangout spot at a local diner, filled with retellings of childhood stories and everyone had showed up… except for James, of course. Even among all of the laughing, Aleks still felt like the gathering had been empty without James beside him in their usual spots in the corner booth. He had also made an Instagram post, a selfie with the group that he had captioned: _“Had to have one last lunch with these guys before I leave town. Wish that everyone had been able to attend but overall, it was an amazing send off.”_ That last sentence may or may not have been a jab specifically at James; petty, yes, but Aleks had been pretty hurt that he didn’t even bother showing up for that one time. 

_“Yeah, I am. West coast has been calling my name for a while,”_ Aleks finally sends in response. He says that it’s “calling his name” but really… what awaits him? No matter which city he decides on, he’s going to be surrounded by countless new faces that he either has to introduce himself to or feel alone around, and both of those situations make him feel anxious. Or could it be that Aleks is just running from-

_“What specifically is calling for you? What exactly can you find out west that will be any different or better than there in boring ass Boston?”_ Now Aleks is really confused; James himself had left Boston for Denver a year or so ago, and from what Aleks had heard James was enjoying himself much more. So much so that he decided to cut all of his old friends off for whatever new ones that he had found out there. 

Aleks had met James on their first day of middle school and while initially James had seemed indifferent to the boy he had been sat near for homeroom, he slowly warmed up to him over the first couple of weeks. By the end of the first quarter the two had practically become best friends and James finally introduced Aleks to his other friends, Jordan, Seamus, and Sly. Together the quintet had survived the ups and downs of middle and high school and it seemed to be them against the world… until the last quarter of senior year. Right after spring break James had suddenly begun to exile himself from the group and no one could figure out why, any attempt to question him being met with a cold shoulder; not even Aleks had been able to get through to him. Graduation soon came and went, Aleks’ lock screen still the photo of the remaining four throwing their arms around one another while proudly showing off their diplomas, and no one heard anything from James. 

And then Sly broke the news one day. 

While not saying from who or how he had heard so, he found out that James had quietly left town for Denver not long after graduation. Jordan and Seamus had been angered to find out that James had skipped town without so much as a goodbye and while Aleks showed anger on the surface, inside it made him sad; James had been there for Aleks through what seemed to be an endless stream of hell in his life, and just like that he was gone. 

_“Meh, whatever. Look, I know I kind of walked out on you and the others last year but I was wondering”_ James sends another message, but it’s abruptly cut off. 

_“Wondering?”_ When James doesn’t reply after a couple of minutes, Aleks assumes that he may have decided against asking whatever his question had been. Grabbing the last backpack in his now barren childhood bedroom and taking one last look, Aleks walks down the old stairwell for the last time, at least for now; he and James had run up and down these stairs countless times when they were younger, their parents sitting outside and talking over drinks while their sons sat inside of Aleks’ room playing whatever new PlayStation game had come out. Sometimes they would go out and sit under the big oak tree in the backyard, contemplating if it would be worth rebuilding the old treehouse in the top of it but ultimately never doing it; the bit of money that the two had saved toward doing that sat in a shoebox inside of Aleks’ closet until he remembered about it one day. It did finally get used on his 19th birthday when his dad decided to help him on buying his first car, the silver Camaro currently sitting in the driveway packed to the brim in Aleks’ belongings. Sitting in the driver's seat, Aleks pulls out his phone again to see if James had replied back and at first he sees nothing, but as he starts to put it back away, it rings with a text message:

_“I’m back in Boston for a few days visiting my mom. Do you think you’d want to come by and talk again? Since you leave today I figured we can have our own final meetup.”_ Aleks isn’t sure if he’s feeling happiness or dread in his chest; part of him yearns to see James again, hear his voice and feel his arms around him in those really good hugs that he gives. But another part of him says that he shouldn’t go, that he doesn’t need to feel the loss of James in his life for a second time. Then something suddenly hits Aleks:

James had gone west when he left Boston; Aleks also plans to go west when he leaves. 

Had his subconscious been pulling him to Denver, where James would be? Aleks had tried to convince himself that he had moved on from James and shoved as many memories of him as he could to the back of his head, but deep down it seemed that he still wanted him in his life. 

_“I don’t blame you if you say no. I wish I could explain to you why I left the way I did.”_ What??

_“Then explain. You couldn’t even begin to understand how angry and sad all of us were at you.”_

_“I can’t Aleks. At least not over the phone. I’d rather explain it to you in person.”_ James seems hellbent on getting Aleks to come see him; and while he hates himself for it, Aleks finds himself being slowly convinced. Ever since he found out about James, he had always wondered at the back of his mind about what made him bail town. 

_“Please don’t bring anyone with you. I just need to see you.”_ Aleks nearly drops his phone after reading this message; need? James _needs_ to see him? 

_“Why exactly do you think that you can make me show up at your door so easily?”_

_“Remember who was there for you when you lost your mom? Who allowed you to come to their house and held you as you cried for hours on end? Who met up with you at the mall when your high school girlfriend broke up with you the day before prom? I know deep down that you want to see me as much as I want to see you, Aleks. I’ve been there for you through so much and it was shitty of me to walk out on you, it’s my biggest regret to this day. Please at least come see me this one last time? You never have to speak to me again if you don’t want to.”_ Ow. Tears begin to prick at Aleks’ eyes and he wonders if this is making James want to cry as well; maybe James isn’t the one that needs to see Aleks. He slides further down on the seat and stares at the car dash while he thinks for a few minutes. When he picks his phone back up to reply, the answer seems to leave his mind without a second thought:

_“I’ll come by there soon.”_


	2. but we’ll see it all again

_“I’ll come by there soon.”_

James throws his phone down onto his bed and draws in deep breaths. He hadn’t expected to successfully talk Aleks into coming to see him but now that he had, he wasn’t sure where to go from here; while he did have _something_ that he needed to tell him, how was he going to tell him without further straining what little of their relationship remained?

~

James’ whole world seemed to come crashing down on that last Saturday of spring break during their senior year. He had spent nearly the entire day walking around town with Aleks, no true objective in mind but spending a last bit of time together before the school year continued and they’d be busy studying for finals. When the sun had started to set in the sky, he decided that it was time to go home and had been walking Aleks back to his place when _it_ happened. 

“We’re this fucking close, I can’t believe it,” Aleks says as he moves his shaggy hair out of his face, slightly damp with sweat from all of the walking, “we need to start thinking out what our senior trip is gonna be, huh?”

“I’ve always wanted to visit Portland, maybe we could rent a house at one of the capes up there for a week?” As James speaks he finds himself keeping a steady watch on Aleks’ hand where it’s still raking through his hair; actually, Aleks’ hair looks kind of pretty when the sun hits it-

“That sounds fun, actually; we already live near the ocean here but seeing it from another location may make it interesting. I feel like renting out a beach house is expensive but with five of us we should be able to afford it.”

“Yeah! I’ve looked at prices before and we can definitely afford it if we all pitch in,” Aleks smiles at the statement, seemingly being convinced. Man, he also had a cute smile…

“We can talk about this later with the rest of the group; I should probably get in, my dad is probably gonna be pissed as it is that I’ve been out all day,” Aleks begins walking toward his door but stops and walks back to James, opening his arms up; James gladly steps into the hug and returns it as tightly as he can. Way back when when James had been placed near this emo looking boy for homeroom he had no interest in him whatsoever, but over the next couple of weeks Aleks began opening up to him and soon, the two were thick as thieves. At first James had been hesitant to introduce Aleks to the rest of his friends, not sure how they would react to him bringing the new kid into their group, but once he finally did he was relieved to find that the other three boys immediately took Aleks in as their new friend. 

James isn’t sure how long the hug lingers for, but when Aleks finally pulls away he finds himself wishing that it would have lasted longer. James watches him until he closes the front door behind him, and then he begins making his way back to his own home; sticking his hands into his jean pockets, James basks in the warmth coming from the sunset following behind him as he walks along the mostly silent sidewalks. The image of Aleks smiling at him as the sun shines in his hair burns brightly in James’ mind and he finds himself smiling at the thought-

Oh no. 

James begins to feel that telltale increase in his heart rate. One that can only mean…

No, _no_ ; this can’t be real. 

James _can’t_ have a crush on Aleks. He can’t let their nearly seven year long friendship get destroyed over romantic feelings. 

He loves Aleks, yes, but it’s supposed to be a brotherly love; the kind of love he has toward Jordan, Seamus, and Sly. 

Where the _fuck_ did a romantic love come from?

~

James still regrets that the only solution that he had felt he had toward not ruining his friendship with Aleks had been to stay away from him. Staying away from Aleks had also meant avoiding the other boys as well, not wanting to explain why he couldn’t speak to Aleks anymore. He knows that Jordan and Seamus especially were mad at him, having known them the longest they had to feel the most hurt that James had stopped wanting to associate with them suddenly. Feeling his anxiety starting to rise, James decides to step outside for some fresh air while he waits on Aleks to arrive. 

As James’ mom lived in a more suburban neighborhood, the front yard wasn’t very big and was basically right on the street; but the amount of room was sufficient enough to allow for James to walk in steady circles, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. Part of James misses living in Boston, the coastal port city having been all that he knew for the first 18 years of his life, but he knew that leaving had been for the best so that Aleks and the others would not be breathing down his neck for an answer; and after all, Denver was an amazing place as well! The greenery and mountains nearby were a good change of pace from the ocean and while at first it took a bit of adjustment to remembering that he was now landlocked, James found himself preferring Denver to Boston even if ever so slightly. 

Or at the very least, he was not surrounded by reminders of a love that he couldn’t have. 

James decides to take a rest in his pacing and he goes to sit on the edge of the porch. Looking to his left, if he looks _just hard_ enough he can still mentally picture Aleks and the rest of their old group walking up to his house, laughing at whatever joke had been said before all four boys would yell and wave at James to accompany them in whatever they were going to be getting up to on that afternoon. And then as by some weird coincidence, a silver Camaro drives up from that same direction and proceeds to park in front of the sidewalk of James’ mom’s house. The car is so packed that James is unable to see inside of it and get a look at the driver but when the driver steps out and reveals himself, James doesn’t even need to see his face to know who it is; the increase in his heart rate is all he needs to know. 

James isn’t in control of his own legs when he stands up and runs over to Aleks, nearly tackling him to the ground when he embraces him as tightly as possible. James reaches his hand up to tangle it in Aleks’ hair… but he finds that it’s much shorter than it had been during high school. James pulls back to get a good look at him and he also finds that the tips of Aleks’ hair are bleached, he never imagined Aleks going blond but the more he thinks about it, the more James wishes he could see that for himself. 

“Hi,” James says quietly, “I’m glad you came to see me.” Aleks simply looks at him for what feels an eternity, maybe contemplating what his first words to James should be. 

“So are you gonna explain to me why you abandoned the group?” Aleks went straight to the point, it seems.

“I…” James hesitates for a bit; he knows what the truth is, but he’s not sure if Aleks would be ready to hear it, “I dunno.”

“You ‘dunno’? You don’t know what changed so sharply between us that one day, we were walking around town acting like complete dumbasses together and planning out our senior trip, but then just days later you began to distance yourself? You _really_ don’t know, James?” Aleks is getting angry, James can tell by the tone in his voice, and he needs to de-escalate this fast. While it was a rare occurrence, when Aleks gets mad he gets _mad_ and James does not want his anger aimed at him. 

“Aleks I-“ _why can’t I just tell him?_

“Did you just call me here to play chicken with me?” Aleks crosses his arms and looks at James, “I could have already left town by now, but I allowed you to guilt trip me into visiting you.”

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” James says so quietly that Aleks barely hears him. 

“Tell me what?” Aleks becomes so gentle all of a sudden that it makes James tear up; he wishes he could grow the balls to just tell Aleks flat out that he loves him. 

“James.” Aleks lifts a hand to place it on James’ arm. When James looks at it he sees a fairly fresh astronaut tattooed on it, silently smiling to himself that Aleks had finally begun on the sleeves that he always talked about wanting, “you know that we’ve always been open with each other; that hasn’t changed.” The tears that had been gathering in James’ eyes finally spill over and the look of concern on Aleks’ face grows stronger as he looks at him. 

“I- I wish it… I wish it was easy, Aleks. I really do.”

“Is it something bad? Like, you haven’t… killed someone, have you?”

“I haven’t committed a felony, Aleks; it’s not ‘bad’ in that aspect-“

“Then what makes it bad, James?” He should have never reached out to Aleks. James should have known that he couldn’t bring himself to tell him-

Aleks’ eyes widen suddenly and he steps back a bit to look at James. His mouth is slightly agape but it slowly stretches into a smile, much to James’ confusion. 

“I knew I recognized that look in your eyes.” James wipes at his eyes and looks at Aleks, waiting for an explanation, “it’s the same way that you would look at Brooke from chemistry before she shut you down.”

“Aleks what are you-“

“You’re in love with me.” Once again, James’ world feels like it’s crashing down. “James, is that why you-“

“Yes, Aleks, yes! I realized that evening when I walked you home that I had a crush on you but I was scared that you were gonna hate me for it, so I- I distanced myself from you. And because I didn’t want anyone asking questions that’s why I cut off Jordan, Seamus, and Sly too. I was so fucking scared of you finding out that I loved you that I-“

“Hey, relax, ok?” The smile on Aleks’ face has not faded, “it’s… it’s ok, James. I never told any of you guys but senior year was… confusing for me in that aspect as well; but for me it was at the beginning of the year and I forced myself to bury those thoughts instead of confronting them.” Aleks reaches down and takes James’ hand into his own. James finally allows himself to smile through his tears, now from happiness. 

“Aleksandr…” hesitantly, James brings Aleks’ hand to his mouth and plants a soft kiss on the back of it. Once it’s been kissed Aleks releases his hand and cups James’ jaw, wiping away some of the drying tear marks, “Aleks, do- do you think that maybe… the guys will accept me back into the group?”

“I’ll have to explain the situation to them, but I think that they will. After all, they knew you way before me.” Aleks looks back at his car, wincing upon remembering what he had been planning to do before James called him, “fuck dude, I’d say we could go right now but my car is kind of… well I’m sure you can see.” James also turns and looks at the car, and a thought crosses his mind. 

“So uh, you have any idea about where you’re going when you leave Boston?”

“To tell the truth… no, I don’t. I guess I was just gonna drive until I landed somewhere that felt right to me.”

“You should come to Denver with me.” A glimmer of hope consumes Aleks’ eyes and it makes James’ smile widen. 

“Are you serious?”

“Of course I am! When I told my mom why I didn’t speak to you anymore, she constantly told me that she wished I would talk to you again so she could spend more time with her future son in law.”

“So she always had hope in us?”

“You know she did. Even when I was so sure that I would lose you when I told you that I loved you, she firmly believed that you wouldn’t. And I’m so fucking glad that she was right,” James can’t resist anymore and finally leans in to kiss Aleks, running his hand through the bleached tips of his hair. Similar to the last hug that they had shared on that Saturday evening, James wishes that it could last forever, but he eventually has to pull away, “so, you have a new plan: you’re gonna take your stuff inside of my mom‘s house, after we go in and tell her the news of course, and then you’re gonna get in touch with the guys and tell them that I’m back.”

“And then we’re off for Denver?”

“In a few days, yes. I just got here like yesterday, let me take some time to reminisce among my old turf and catch up with old friends!” This time it’s Aleks that can’t resist pulling James into a kiss but it doesn’t last for long before James is pulling him inside of the house, heart about to burst from excitement at the news he’ll get to tell his mom about.


End file.
